Clasp
1800-1870 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This clasp is typical of the neck ornaments worn with traditional costume in South Germany in the 19th century. Women in the Alpine regions of south Germany, Austria and Switzerland often wore chokers of various kinds to hide the ugly swelling of goitre, which was endemic in the area due to the lack of iodine in the diet. In Austria and Switzerland the chokers were usually made of chains or strings of garnet or coral beads, but in Germany the women attached their decorative clasps to a scarf made of light gauze.
This filigree clasp is unmarked, but may have come from Schwäbisch Gmünd, a small town in south Germany which specialised in small filigree work of all kinds in the 19th century.
This filigree clasp is unmarked, but may have come from Schwäbisch Gmünd, a small town in south Germany which specialised in small filigree work of all kinds in the 19th century.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Silver filigree set with red facetted pastes |
| Brief description | Silver filigree clasp (Florschnalle) for a neck scarf, Bavaria (South Germany), 1800-1870. |
| Physical description | Elaborate silver filigree clasp in two parts, decorated with a profusion of three-dimensional filigree flower- or leaf-shaped swirls. In the centre of each part is a layered rosette with a ring of red facetted pastes surrounding a central pebbled dome. One of the rosettes has a layer of stamped brass scrolls under the ring of pastes, instead of the silver filigree layer which remains on the other rosette. There is a matching rosette above the hook of the clasp. The rosettes are all riveted to the base. There is a hook in the centre of the back to connect the two parts, and five loops at each end for attachment. |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | This clasp is typical of the neck ornaments worn with traditional costume in South Germany in the 19th century. Women in the Alpine regions of south Germany, Austria and Switzerland often wore chokers of various kinds to hide the ugly swelling of goitre, which was endemic in the area due to the lack of iodine in the diet. In Austria and Switzerland the chokers were usually made of chains or strings of garnet or coral beads, but in Germany the women attached their decorative clasps to a scarf made of light gauze. This filigree clasp is unmarked, but may have come from Schwäbisch Gmünd, a small town in south Germany which specialised in small filigree work of all kinds in the 19th century. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 103&PART-1872 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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